When i first started using a personal computer i remember that i chose a configuration with an 300MB hard disk drive which was not only the highest capacity drive available at the time but it also cost as much as half of the entire system. Almost 22 years later technology has advanced to a level where a person can actually purchase one of the latest entry level 4TB hard disk drives (4000000MB) for less than USD350/300Euros, currently that is since prices tend to fall. Hitachi GST has already released 3 different 4TB HDD models in the market, two in their Deskstar consumer oriented line and one in their Ultrastar enterprise line. Today with us we have the high end consumer model, the Deskstar 7K4000 (HDS724040ALE640) and as usual it will go through rigorous testing to see just how well it performs compared to other hard disk drives in the market.

Hitachi GST was formed in 2003 from the strategic merger of the storage technology businesses within IBM Corporation and Hitachi, Ltd. Since that time, the company has built on the heritage of both industry pioneers to grow profitably as a major contributor in the global storage industry. The company has worked to bring a customer-focused and full-service approach to its storage solutions. In doing so, the company has set a high standard for product and service excellence with world-class operations, substantial technical knowledge and a comprehensive customer support infrastructure.

In the past I’ve checked quite a few products manufactured by Hitachi GST including many from both their Deskstar and Ultrastar lines so in a way i kinda know what to expect both in terms of performance and reliability from the latest Deskstar 7K4000. Still i have to say that i was expecting Hitachi GST to use a total of 4 plates, 1TB each to get up to 4TB instead of five 800GB ones (found in the 7K4000) but i am pretty certain they had good reason behind their decision. Numbers however is what matters with such reviews (and the product price) so without further delay let’s move to the rest of the review and see just how good the latest addition in the Hitachi GST Deskstar line of products is.